Modi’s elevation has isolated BJP, says Nitish

In yet another veiled attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar on Monday said the decision had isolated the saffron party.

“The BJP has put an end to the anti-Congress, anti-UPA mood which was there in the country. The BJP is responsible for this. As per my understanding, the BJP is not going to gain anything from this [appointing Mr. Modi]. They did this as per their own wish and have gone into isolation as a result,” Mr. Kumar said.

Taking a dig at Mr. Modi’s plan to build Sardar Vallabhai Patel’s statue in the context of the recent sidelining of senior BJP leader L.K Advani, Mr. Kumar said, “Mr. Advani used to be known as the ‘Loh Purush’ [Iron Man]. They have left him to rust. They have abandoned their own iron man and are looking for iron elsewhere.”

Responding to a question on the Janata Dal (United) president Sharad Yadav’s statement to a newspaper that the party would contest alone in Bihar, Mr. Kumar said, “As of today, we are not in talks with any leader. Our party programme will continue till October 2013. If the need arises, we will discuss the political situation.”